UP bypoll: Samjwadi Party ahead in Gorakhpur; comfortably leads in Phulpur

Uttar Pradesh's ruling BJP was leading in the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency while the opposition SP was ahead in Phulpur after three hours of counting for the parliamentary by-elections, Election Commission officials said.

In Gorakhpur, the bastion of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP's Upendra Dutt Shukla was leading by 1,666 votes over his nearest SP rival Praveen Nishad.

The results are expected to be declared by afternoon, an EC official said.

Ten nominees were in the fray from Gorakhpur, while 22 candidates contested from Phulpur.

According to the EC, there are 19.61 lakh voters in the Phulpur parliamentary constituency and 19.49 lakh in the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat.

The bypolls were necessitated after Adityanath and his Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively, following their election to the state legislative council.